DOE issues preschool special ed awards

The Maine Department of Education is distributing $836,000 to the state’s school districts to fund special educational services for preschool-age children with disabilities for the 2011-12 school year.

The Department is distributing the federal funds under Part B, Section 619 of the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act. The funds are earmarked for students ages three to five.

School districts can apply for their allocations through the Department of Education’s Consolidated Application Website, https://www.4pcamaine.org/.

The IDEA preschool-age awards are, by nature, smaller than the school-age awards provided under IDEA. School units with small student populations receive small preschool allocations, and some of these units have traditionally refused their awards.

That option is still available to districts for the 2011-12 award.

Districts can refuse the funds by logging into the FY2012 Local Entitlement Application section of the Consolidated Application Website. Districts that have already refused their preschool awards will need to visit the website again to refuse the 2011-12 awards, since they refused their awards before the amounts were known.

For more information, contact Management Analyst Marcia McInnis by phone at 207-624-6670 or by email at marcia.mcinnis@maine.gov.